Trouble in Paradise Read Online Free PDF

curious about everything.”
    He couldn’t help wondering if he’d want her to be curious about him for some other reason besides her writing.
     
     
    Rainbow Community Church had a splendid preacher in Roger Barnett, and Shayla enjoyed the worship service that morning. She particularly liked standing next to Ian and listening to his fine singing voice. There was a richness and depth in it that touched her heart.
    It wasn’t until the service concluded and people came over to meet her that she became aware she’d been the subject of much speculation during the previous hour. Then she realized they thought she was with Ian.
    The notion was so preposterous, she nearly laughed aloud.
    Men who looked like Ian didn’t date women who looked like her. They chose those tall, lithe, gorgeous blondes or brunettes, the ones who resembled models on magazine covers. She hadn’t reached the ripe old age of thirty without learning that lesson, and learning it well.
    And it wasn’t as though it mattered to her, she thought a short while later as she drove toward home. She was comfortable enough with her appearance. She didn’t mind as much as she used to that she was short and plump and rather ordinary looking.
    Besides, she wasn’t in the market for a man. Godhad called her to write Christian fiction, not to find a husband. There was no shame in remaining unmarried, despite how her mother might feel about that. The shame would be in knowing what God wanted her to do but not doing it.
    However, Ian could become a good friend. She’d like that, especially since she planned to live in these parts a long, long time. They were neighbors, after all. She was going to clean his kitchen and he was going to fix her roof.
    At the cabin, she parked her fifteen-year-old car between two tamaracks, then went inside. She put her Bible on the coffee table and switched on the radio to a country-western station before going into the bedroom to change out of her dress and into a T-shirt and pair of shorts. Afterward, she poured herself a glass of iced tea from the pitcher in the refrigerator and went to sit on the deck.
    She should work on her book this afternoon. Tomorrow she’d probably be too tired to write after she returned from Paradise Ranch. What a mess she was about to tackle! She hadn’t let on, of course, but it had been awhile since she’d seen so much clutter and disorganization in one house.
    If there was anything she’d learned as the oldest of seven children, all residing under one roof, it was how to keep things neat and tidy. Otherwise you lost the things that were yours.
    Sipping her tea, she allowed her thoughts to drift to her family. Her parents, Doug and RebaVincent, hadn’t ever had much money, but they’d had plenty of love, especially for kids. Shayla arrived the year after they married. Eight years separated her and her brother, Dwight, but the rest of the Vincent children followed in rapid succession. Anne, at twenty-one, was one year younger to the day than Dwight. Ken was twenty. Olivia just turned seventeen this month. George would be fifteen in two weeks. Crystal, the “baby” sister, was thirteen.
    Shayla couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been helping her mom change diapers or feed one baby or another. In fact, she’d postponed moving out on her own after graduating from high school because she was needed at home. There hadn’t been enough money for full-time college, so she’d settled for taking the occasional night class while working as a secretary during the day.
    And all the while, she’d harbored the dream of one day writing great novels. Sometimes, while still living with the family, she’d locked herself in the bathroom with a good book, just for a moment of peace and quiet to herself. She would read and think, I could do this. I want to do this.
    She felt the sting of disappointment once again, wondering why no one had tried to understand her dreams and aspirations. Even when she moved